#aaliyah (oc)

[notjustsomegirlart]

[pigeonwhumps]

Finding Safety

After being kidnapped, dumped at WRU, and shipped to the USA, Cass isn't having a good time. And then Tyrone takes him to be his ring-fighting Guard Dog, alongside Aaliyah, a Romantic he already owns. Now he's definitely not having a good time, and nor is Aaliyah. After losing everything, they need to build their lives again, but with Aaliyah not remembering her past and Cass unable to reach his, it's a challenge, even with assistance.

Contains: disabled whumpees (Cass becomes an ambulatory wheelchair user and has problems with his eyesight, and Aaliyah is non-verbal), lady whump, BBU, pet whump

CWs: BBU, pet whump

Character intros

Cass and Aaliyah

Dan and Tyrone

Sandy, Jason, Jacob, Xiu, Letitia, and Tom

Calixte, Petre, Mathéo, Isabella, and Cass Jr

Writing

Delivery (Letitia, Sandy)

🧃 prompt drabble (Cass, Dan)

Transport (Cass, Lea)

Losing (Cass, Lea)

Barcode (Cass)

"Did you think you were worth something?" (Cass)

Fight (Cass, Aaliyah, Tyrone)

Exposed (Cass, Aaliyah, Tyrone)

New Toy (Aaliyah, Tyrone, Cass)

Routine (Xiu, Sandy, Jason)

Stabbed (Cass, Aaliyah, Tyrone)

Stargazing (Aaliyah, Cass)

Cookies and sweaters (Aaliyah, Cass, Letitia, Sandy, Tom, Xiu)

💪 prompt drabble (Cass, Aaliyah)

"What are you waiting for? Strip." (Aaliyah, Tyrone, Cass)

Safety (Cass, Aaliyah, Lea, Anita, Sandy, Calixte, Mathéo, Petre, Isabella, Cass Jr)

Blackmail (Aaliyah)

Extras

Cass WRU intake form

Ask games

Tyrone

Is there anything you still wish your pet did better?

Cass

What is your greatest fear?

☾ - sleep headcanon

♥ - family headcanon (+ Calixte)

Aaliyah

What is your greatest fear?

Lea and Anita have their own series, Sanctuary, which can be found here.

Taglist: @littlespacecastle @whumpymirages @flowersarefreetherapy @painful-pooch

[pigeonwhumps]

Blackmail

Finding Safety masterlist

Whump Girl Summer day 6: Blackmail

Taglist: @littlespacecastle @whumpymirages @flowersarefreetherapy @painful-pooch (plus @justplainwhump bc you've been waiting for this)

While at university in Canada, Aaliyah is forcefully reminded of her past as a pet.

Set a few years after Cass and Aaliyah move to Canada. Aaliyah's in her second year.

1.8k

CWs: BBU, pet whump, rape/non-con, sexual slurs, flashbacks, conditioned whumpee, degradation, self-degradation, blackmail, non-con nude photos, discrimination, briefly implied homophobia, dehumanisation

Aaliyah closes her laptop and removes her headphones, stretching widely. She's enjoying researching for this essay but despite her ability to stay in one place for hours at a time she's getting stiff. And her ears are aching.

Her roommate Zac looks up from his own textbook. "You want to take a break? We have plenty of time."

She picks up her tablet and chooses her words from the symbols. Zac waits patiently, something he's good at and which she's always grateful for, given how some people act about her AAC software.

"Get water. Will be quick."

"Take as long as you need, I'll look after your stuff."

"Thank you."

She heads out of the library and crosses the corridor to the water fountain, drinking as much as she can and splashing a little on her face too. It feels nice.

She hears footsteps behind her and moves out of the way in case whoever it is wants to use the water fountain.

They don't. Instead, they bark out an order.

"Respect."

Aaliyah drops to her knees before she even knows what's happening. No, this can't happen here. She didn't even realise she still did that.

She tries to get up but her body's locked. If she gets up before Master says she can–

No. No, she's not there, she's safe, Master isn't here. He never will be.

So why can't she move?

"I thought so," says a confident, sneering voice from behind her. "See, my cousin's studying in the States, and his frat house just bought a box boy. So cute and eager to please. Combination of some sort, I think. Apparently you're not gay if it's a boxie you're fucking. Anyway, he showed me their pet on a video call and it's funny. The way you cock your head, your inability to read and write, and you always cover your left forearm, no matter how warm it is or what else you're wearing. You're a WRU slut, aren't you?"

Aaliyah doesn't respond. She doesn't reach for her tablet, or move her head, or try to get up. She can't do anything, and that's probably enough of an indictment by itself.

"I knew it." The voice is gleeful now, and he grabs her arm in a bruising grip, pulling her up and pushing her along. "Disabled restroom should be free, right?"

Distantly, Aaliyah realises she should resist. Master isn't here anymore to make her do this. She doesn't want to do this.

But she's not a person. And it has never mattered what she wants.

The boy shoves her into the bathroom and she tumbles to the floor, ending up sprawled on the tiles.

She hears the lock click with a dreadful finality.

"Now, I don't know any of the positions, but I want you on your hands and knees. I'm sure you know how to do that, at least. Oh yeah. And strip."

Aaliyah obeys with shaking hands, throat tight. She wishes the floor wasn't so white and the light wasn't so bright, it reminds her too much of the facility.

She flushes as he looks her up and down. She's not sure how he knows her, but she recognises him from somewhere. The name will come eventually, she thinks.

She doesn't want him seeing her. This isn't like when she plays with Cass and Calixte, this is different, it's like she's a pet again.

No, not just a pet. Owned.

"You really are hot. No wonder you volunteered to be a slut, your looks are your best asset. I don't see why you hide them, I mean most Romantics don't, right? They seduce and manipulate using them. Your looks might not be your very best asset though, I think I'd like to try you out now. You're bottoming, obviously. Let's see how good a slut you can be for me."

Aaliyah holds back her tears as the boy climbs on top of her. She's been taught how to hide her emotions, she's an expert at it, and she blinks her eyelashes seductively at him as he positions her to his liking. She ends up on her back, legs spread between his. He looks at her like she's a banquet.

"Oh, you really are a nice-looking pet. Keep your eyes on me, I want to see your face while I fuck you. I hear you Romantics are trained to love your owners, and really, that sounds ideal."

He's not her owner. He's not. But as he opens the lube in his pocket and slicks her up, teasing her with his finger, she finds that difficult to remember.

He positions himself and slides his cock inside with a wink. Fuck. She hates this. She wishes she could go back to not caring, but now she knows what it's like not to have to do this, not to believe it's all she's worth, not to have an owner (and that's the most important thing she's learnt, and the most painful), it seems impossible to do. The boy isn't her owner, but he feels that way.

So many people fucked her in training, and then there was Jacob, too, so maybe it doesn't matter if he's her owner anyway. She's a WRU slut at heart, after all, and with her owner gone it would make sense that she's a general slut for everyone now.

No... no, that wouldn't make sense. Not the way she'd like. She has Cass and Calixte, although she doesn't want to think of them right now, doesn't want them associated with this.

She buries her emotions deep down where they can't show, covering her anger and sorrow and utter terror with a veil of pleasure. She desperately wants to curl up in a ball and cry it out but she can't. She has to behave, and do what she was made to do.

She's a good pet at heart, after all.

He fucks into her, not caring how she feels about it, and she turns the small moans and sobs that escape into sounds of enjoyment.

"Oh, you're so good at this pet, my god. Keep doing that, this is good."

Aaliyah wants to stop. Just stop, stop giving him this, stop giving in, kick him and stop him from ever doing it again. But she's a good pet, so she won't. The lights are bright and it's so white and she knows she can't disobey or she'll get shocked. The handlers will use their batons if she fights back.

No. No, she's not there, she's free. Free and still a pet and still being fucked against her will.

A hand slaps her cheek, the stinging pain bringing her back to the present.

"Hey. Bitch. Don't zone out on me now, I was enjoying your attention."

Aaliyah bats her eyelids and does what she should. It hurts, but she's made to take that, so she does, even if she desperately wishes she was somewhere else. Anywhere else.

Almost anywhere.

It seems like an eternity before he comes inside her, which is usually permission for her to orgasm too. The boy sighs blissfully and withdraws.

"You are an excellent pet slut." He does up his trousers and pulls his phone out of his pocket, cocky grin back on his face. "Just gotta do something."

Later Aaliyah will wish she had punched him or covered her face or run or something, but right now she just lets herself be manouvred. She's a pet, she doesn't have any free will, and anyway she can't bring herself to move. It's all too much, all over again. He takes photos of her face and her barcode and the two together, and other parts too, making it very clear who and what she is, and what she's done.

"Nice photos. I won't share them so long as you don't tell anyone about this. And, well. I might come up with more terms later. Gotta finish college before I can move and get a Romantic of my own, after all. Do we have a deal?"

Aaliyah nods, barely keeping the tears at bay. How did she end up like this?

"Great. See ya."

He stalks out of the bathroom without so much as a backward glance, and Aaliyah locks the door again before sinking to the floor. Now, the tears come. They can, now he's gone, she doesn't need to keep such a tight rein on her emotions now she's alone.

She didn't... how did this happen? How could she let something like this happen? She's not a person, this is a clear reminder of that, because a person wouldn't be so useless. They wouldn't have a barcode that makes them so easy to control. Master's dead and she's still a pet, still owned in every sense except the completely literal one. She scrunches up under the sink, giving herself a few minutes to cry messily, snottily. Not silently pretty, as a Romantic should.

She takes a deep breath, then another. Then she gets up and leans over the sink, scrubbing her face, wiping away the tears, making her eyes less puffy.

Maybe Zac will assume she's had a panic attack and not ask too many questions. She hopes so.

She dresses hurriedly with shaking hands, wanting nothing more than to go home and curl up in Cass' arms. But she can't do that, because then he'd ask and she'd tell him and she can't risk those photos being shared.

As a pet, she's not allowed wants anyway.

She brushes herself down, takes another deep breath, and heads back out.

Zac spots her as she re-enters the library and frowns. As soon as she's close enough, he murmurs, "Are you okay?" She nods. She's fine, she always is. "Okay. If you say so. Another half hour, then we'll go get food?" She nods again. She's in no shape to use her tablet to communicate right now. Zac squeezes her shoulder and looks back down at his textbook, frowning thoughtfully and highlighting another line.

Aaliyah opens up her laptop and puts on her headphones, pressing play. She prepares to draw down her notes and bookmark the sections she needs for her essay.

It's hard, so much harder than earlier. She was enjoying it before but now she can barely concentrate. Her head swims as she tries to settle back into the research. She has to rewind the audio of her textbook several times as she zones out, constantly replaying the last half hour or so. It hurts, physically, mentally, everything, she was hoping she'd never feel that hurt again.

She's useless. She can't concentrate, can't even read or write. She doesn't know things that everyone else finds obvious, that they all stare at her for not understanding. She's trying, she really is, but she's hopeless at it.

She's been pretending to be a person for a while now, but she's not. She never will be. She's a pet, and that's all she'll ever be.

[pigeonwhumps]

What did they fight the hardest not to lose? Were they in any way successful?

For Aaliyah?

- sara / @justplainwhump

Her memory! Mostly the memory of her mother, but her memory in general.

See, the reason WRU took her as a pet was because she got Tom out of there when he tried to escape and made it to her office instead, and this was before his memory was fully wiped (yeah... the handlers on duty with him utterly failed there). And they can't have her out there knowing kids are made into pets. But this means Aaliyah knows it's possible to escape before losing her memory. So she fights for as long as possible. And when it becomes clear she can't get the drip out, she hangs onto her memory for as long as possible.

Also, she made her mother a promise that she wouldn't be taken as a pet.

You already know how well that went (hint: not well at all) (she doesn't really remember anything).

[pigeonwhumps]

"What are you waiting for? Strip."

- sara

Set early in the recapture arc

CWs: BBU, pet whump, forced to strip, forced nudity, collar, muzzled, implied future and past non-con

"What are you waiting for? Strip."

Aaliyah starts to pull off her jumper, eyes darting to Cass when he whines. He looks terrible, the part of his face that isn't smothered in a thick leather muzzle covered in blood and newly-forming bruises. And his eyes... his eyes are the worst part. He shouldn't be feeling sorry for her, his position is worse, and yet he does, she can tell.

Her throat fills with guilt as she looks at him. He doesn't deserve this. He didn't choose this.

Neither did you, says a small voice in her head, remember?

She banishes it quickly. No time for that voice now.

Master marches forward and yanks her head up by her hair, forcing her to look at him. Her cheek stings as he slaps it.

"Eyes on me, Aaliyah, or I'll think you've forgotten your training." Aaliyah bows apologetically, palms and face pressed to the floor. She remembers Master's threat if he did suspect that of her.

He thinks it's Cass' fault. Or that's what he says, anyway. Cass is getting the worst of this, she's just doing what she was made for, and he should've abandoned her.

Why couldn't he just have abandoned her?

"Yeah, right. Get up, keep stripping," Master says, sounding slightly mollified. "I want to see you. And you." He crouches down in front of Cass and grabs his leash, pulling tight until he starts to choke. "Ugly mutts don't cry, or make a sound, or do anything unless they're ordered to. And you're even uglier than you were last time I saw you. The easiest way to make you obey is to restrict your air supply, that always works on you, but I need you to watch this and actually be aware of it. So. How about this. Every time you disobey, I'll punish Aaliyah instead. Nod if you understand." Cass nods, eyes filled with pain. "Good." Master releases him, throwing him down to the ground where he coughs and splutters.

Aaliyah drops back to her knees as soon as she's removed the last of her underwear, and Master circles her, a satisfied smile on his face.

"A bit fat, maybe, but you still look good. You'll look even better once you're collared and I've claimed you again. I bet you still remember how to serve me." He picks a soft-looking pink leather collar out of the pile of tools his friends brought in, and Aaliyah doesn't like how well she can imagine it around her neck. "And then we can break you both back in again. You have no idea how much I've been looking forward to this."

Taglist: @littlespacecastle @whumpymirages @flowersarefreetherapy @painful-pooch

[pigeonwhumps]

Cookies and sweaters

Finding Safety masterlist

Taglist: @littlespacecastle @whumpymirages @flowersarefreetherapy

Aaliyah and Cass, along with the other rescues in Sandy's safehouse, bake cookies for the Christmas tree and get presents.

Set on their first Christmas Eve in the safehouse, a few weeks after their arrival there.

3k

CWs: BBU, pet whump, recovery whump, implied past non-con, briefly mentioned past minor whump, past dehumanisation, past degradation, self degradation

The key turns in the lock as they're kneading the dough, and it feels like time stops in the little, too-messy kitchen.

Aaliyah freezes, heart pounding, hands holding the cookie dough. Tom, little Tom who makes her head hurt, crawls under the kitchen counter, arms around his legs. And Letitia scurries to greet whoever's entering (please let it be Mx Sandy and Cass and Xiu back from shopping, please don't let Mr Jacob have forgotten something, he's supposed to be away from here for Christmas, please, please).

"Welcome home, Mx Sandy."

"Thank you, Tish. How's the morning been?"

"Good, Mx Sandy. We started making the cookies for the tree and, and Tom's made a calendar."

"That's great, honey. Do you want to show me?"

"Yes, mx."

Aaliyah stands up straighter, dropping the dough. It's far too messy in here, she really hopes Mx Sandy doesn't punish them for it, or at least that she only punishes her, please, please. Tom and Letitia don't deserve to be punished. People never like mess, it's far too much to hope she won't be punished at all.

Mx Sandy enters the room, followed by Letitia nervously, then Cass and Xiu, both carrying bags which they set down in the corner before washing their hands.

A tiny bit of Aaliyah unclenches. It's Cass. Cass is safe. He's safe he's safe he's safe. His eyes immediately lock onto her and he limps over, standing beside her. She finds his hand and squeezes it.

"Let's have a look at this dough then," says Mx Sandy, and Aaliyah steps aside, in front of Tom's table. She has to hide him, has to get Mx Sandy to punish her, not him. He's so little.

Mx Sandy looks in the bowl. "What flavour did you use? Orange zest, right?"

"Yes, mx," says Letitia. "Is it, is it okay?"

Mx Sandy beams at them. "It's perfect. It's alright, Aaliyah, you won't be punished. Or you, Tommy, you can come out from under there if you like."

Tom crawls out and stands slightly behind Aaliyah, clutching the hem of her oversized top. "You, you promise?"

"I do. There's nothing wrong with making a mess here."

Tom nods. "I, I know. I, I'm sorry, I forgot, with, with the white rooms and the, the white walls, I, I forgot, I forget, I can't–"

Aaliyah turns and wraps the boy in her arms. He's so young, so small. An adult now, Mx Sandy thinks, but he wasn't when he came here, apparently. He makes her head hurt but she can't not comfort him.

"That's okay, honey," murmurs Mx Sandy, "we're here to remind you. Does anyone want to start rolling out the dough?"

"I will," replies Xiu softly.

"Good girl. Tom, want to show me your calendar?"

Tom nods and peels himself away from Aaliyah, wringing his hands. He has a smudge of cookie dough on his glasses, and he swipes at it as he crosses the room and picks the decorated paper plate up from the table, a mini tear-off calendar stapled underneath. He's drawn a jungle scene, of course.

"That's excellent, honey."

Tom beams. "Thank you."

"You should all choose a cutter for your cookie. Cass, Aaliyah, Xiu, have you ever made tree cookies before?"

Cass doesn't respond at all, and Aaliyah shakes her head (she's never done any baking, Master didn't buy her for that, and he wouldn't have let her touch his food anyway. She refuses to think about the bake-at-home dog biscuits she was made to prepare for Cass one time). Xiu says, "No, Sandy. I did cooking and baking for my Sir but not these."

"Okay. That's okay. I'll show you how to make them. Or Tish can, if you'd like, Tish? You're an expert by now."

Letitia looks away shyly and nods.

"Excellent. I'm going to put away the groceries."

Aaliyah frowns. Isn't that a pet's job? She can't say anything though, and she watches as Mx Sandy opens the fridge and starts piling food in out of the bags. Xie've even bought some of those stringy cheese sticks she likes so much.

Aaliyah really doesn't understand why xie're so nice.

Letitia picks up a tree-shaped cookie cutter and lays it on the flat dough. "You take the cutter and, and press it down on the dough until it goes all the way through. Then you poke a hole in the top and, and put the cookie on the tray." She demonstrates, placing the tree-shaped cookie on a greased baking tray. "See? Now you can do it."

Tom bounds forward to pick a giraffe cutter, and Letitia smiles fondly at him, stepping back so he and Xiu can make their cookies (Xiu's picked a little cat. It's cute). Cass lets go of Aaliyah's hand but doesn't move himself. Aaliyah steps forward to choose hers. Maybe if she does, Cass will follow.

There's a lot of cookie cutters on the table and Aaliyah blinks, overwhelmed by all the choice. There's so many, how can she choose? She shouldn't be choosing anyway, that's a people thing, it's for her Master to do.

But he's not here anymore.

Someone's tapping her on the hand and she turns to see Tom bobbing up and down beside her.

"You, you having trouble deciding?" Aaliyah nods. "Do, do you want some help?" She nods again, and Tom looks over the cutters thoughtfully, choosing a moon and holding it out to her. "If, if you like."

Aaliyah smiles and nods gratefully, taking it in both hands. She heads over to where Xiu is carefully pressing her cat into the dough. Xiu glances up at her.

"Do you think we're doing this right?" she asks softly.

Aaliyah hesitates and then nods. It looks like how Letitia did it anyway, so it's probably okay, right?

"Good. I wouldn't like to make a mistake. That would be bad."

Xiu's designation is, was, partly Domestic, and Aaliyah wonders if her Sir was a perfectionist, the way she's so careful with everything. Careful movements, careful chores, careful cookie cutting. Aaliyah steps up next to her and cuts her own cookie, making a hole at the top of the moon with the end of a teaspoon. She transfers it to the tray beside Tom's giraffe.

"You can cut some small ones to eat too in a minute," says Mx Sandy, passing by to put a jar of peanut butter in the cupboard. "They won't need holes. Let me check we have all the tree cookies first."

Mx Sandy crosses to the tray with a smile, ruffling Tom's hair on the way. He beams.

"We're one cookie short," says Mx Sandy after a quick count. "I know which one is yours Tom, Letitia... Xiu, Cass, Aaliyah? One of you? You don't have to make one if you don't want to, but it's a nice tradition."

"Dirty mutts don't touch things used for people food, mx," says Cass roughly, hunching his shoulders.

"You're not a dirty mutt, Cass," says Mx Sandy firmly, "and you eat food made here normally, what's the difference with these?"

"That's made for me, mx. I do not, um, dirty anything meant for people. But I might touch the dough making a cookie and dirty mutts shouldn't do that. Not if people will use it too. Begging your pardon, mx."

Mx Sandy bites xir lip. Aaliyah shuffles closer to Cass and puts her arm around him. He has to make a cookie for the tree!

"Okay. Okay, Cass, we'll work on dissuading you of the dirty mutt thing later, because you're not one but I can't see a way to persuade you of that right now. For now, just know that you're allowed to touch things. You can make yourself a cookie, Cass, that's allowed. Why don't you choose a cutter?"

Cass looks down at Aaliyah, who nods. Mx Sandy said he can make a cookie, so he should make one!

Warily, he approaches the cutters spread out on the table and looks them over. He picks out a star gingerly with two fingers and holds it up.

"That's good. Cut some smaller ones too, if you like, so we can eat them."

"You're, um, sure, mx?"

"Yes. Go on, before Tom uses all the dough."

Tom looks up from his mini jungle of cookies, turning bright red. "Oh, I'm, I'm sorry, Sandy."

"It's fine, honey. You carry on. There's still enough dough for Cass."

Cass cuts his cookie and places it on the tray, and by silent agreement the others stay back, letting Cass and Tom cut the small cookies. Once they're done, Mx Sandy puts the tray in the oven.

"And now we wait. We have some presents to give you all. They're nothing bad, all good things. I hope you'll like them. But first, shall we put some music on? Any preferences?"

Cass shifts awkwardly and glances at Aaliyah. "Please can we have, um, no Christmas songs, mx?"

Aaliyah shudders at the memory of Christmas Day fights and Christmas songs playing as Master... well. No, no Christmas songs.

"Of course. Tish isn't fond of them either."

"Carols specifically," says Letitia, folding against Mx Sandy's side. "Too long in my box under a Christmas tree."

Mx Sandy presses a kiss to her forehead and murmurs something Aaliyah can just hear.

"I'm sorry, honey."

"Was your parents, not you," Letitia mutters shakily back.

"But still, if it wasn't for me–"

"–I might have gone to someone who wasn't, wasn't as kind," finishes Letitia firmly. Mx Sandy pulls her into a proper hug.

Cass exchanges a look with Xiu and squeezes Aaliyah before stepping away, Cass pulling what Aaliyah thinks might be clothes out of a shopping bag while Xiu piles them neatly.

If they're the presents... if Cass helped choose them... maybe they're not too bad.

Mx Sandy steps away from Letitia and takes a shaky breath. "Okay. Okay, right. Thank you, Cass, Xiu. I'll put on the mixed playlist we made earlier in the year, yeah? Aaliyah, Cass, we'll add some songs you like to that soon." Xie fiddles with something on xir phone and a country song starts playing out of the speaker. "So. Presents. You can all sit down if you like, you don't need to stand around."

Aaliyah, Cass and Xiu sit down, Cass slumping over slightly with a wince. His leg must be bad if he's visibly wincing, and Aaliyah leans against him, trying to share her body heat. Letitia frowns at him and crosses to the microwave, putting a reusable heating pad in.

"You sit down too, Tish, I'll do that," says Mx Sandy, and Letitia nods, taking a seat beside Xiu. Tom leans against the side, feet tapping away.

"Is, is it okay if I don't sit, Sandy?" he asks nervously, and xie nods.

"Sure. It always is. Here you go, Cass." Xie hands Cass the heating pad wrapped in a Christmas tea towel, and he presses it to his thigh.

"Thank you, mx."

"No problem Cass. You can use them when you like, you don't have to wait."

"Yes, mx."

Aaliyah squeezes his hand. She knows he hates asking for things, hates the feeling that doing so makes him weak. Master used to laugh at him and call him a 'bad, weak mutt' when he couldn't walk properly, and she knows he's scared of that, too.

"Aaliyah, yours is on top, you okay having it first?" She nods, insides twisting with nerves, and Mx Sandy passes her a bundle of fabric. She unfolds it, grateful at least that it's not wrapped.

It's a sweater. A Christmas sweater, like she's seen some spectators at Cass' fights wear. She banishes those memories from her mind.

It's... strange. This sweater clearly isn't meant to show her off. She pulls it on and it's just... warm. Baggy, oversized, and she pulls the wool over her hands, curling into it. It's dark blue with snowflakes and a large reindeer in the middle.

She loves it. She smiles widely and bows her thanks.

"You're welcome, honey. Cass chose it."

Aaliyah turns to Cass and gives him a hug.

"That's a white-tailed deer," says Xiu suddenly, and Aaliyah turns to her as she claps a hand to her head. "I don't know where that came from, my apologies."

Aaliyah shakes her head. She doesn't mind. It's another piece of Xiu, before... before.

"It's fine," says Mx Sandy concernedly, "do you want some painkillers for your head?"

"No, thank you, Sandy."

"Okay. Do you want to tell us about the deer?"

Xiu nods. "On Aaliyah's sweater, it's a white-tailed deer, not a reindeer. Reindeer are shaggier. I don't know how I know that though."

"Because whoever you were before WRU did. Don't pressure yourself, more memories might come back if you wait." Xiu nods. "Okay, Tommy, you're next."

Tom takes his bundle of fabric and unfolds it. He makes a small sound of delight and throws it over his head, grinning.

His sweater is more of a sweatshirt, with a racoon in Christmas lights and a Santa hat, surrounded by a knit pattern.

"Thank you thank you thank you!"

"I thought a fleecy sweatshirt would be better for you," says Cass, "I know you cannot stand wool on you."

Tom beams.

The rest are all knitted. Xiu has a pattern of penguins on blue, and Mx Sandy has a green sweater that looks like a Christmas tree that makes Letitia burst into giggles. Xiu flushes proudly at the reaction. Letitia herself has a bright red knit with a llama on, and Cass has a dark blue sweater with dancing Santa Clauses on that he puts on carefully, almost disbelievingly, wrapping the wool around his hands.

"Thank you. It is the warmest thing I have had of my own in a long time." He makes a choked sound somewhere between a sob and a comment, and Aaliyah wraps her arms around him before he can make a comment about mutts not getting proper clothes – not that she knows he will, but Master used to say that a lot.

He feels soft in this jumper.

Mx Sandy smiles around at them all. "I'm glad you like your presents. And thank you so much for mine."

"You paid," objects Xiu.

"Still. It's from you and Cass." Cass smiles slightly. "D'you want to decorate your cookies now? I'll get out the writing icing and sprinkles."

"May I make white icing?" asks Xiu.

"Go ahead."

Aaliyah watches as Xiu makes white icing and Mx Sandy fetches the rest of the cookie decorations. There's different colours of writing icing and lots of sprinkles and all sorts, and she feels that twisty, nervous feeling in her chest again.

"Just decorate it how you like. There's no wrong answer."

She swallows and nods, reaching for a tube of yellow writing icing. Carefully, making sure the line doesn't wiggle too much, she outlines the edge of the cookie. Then she uses some of Xiu's white icing to stick multicoloured sprinkles down the centre. She doesn't know how she remembers how to do this, and she's not going to think about it or it'll hurt her head. She looks to Mx Sandy for approval.

"That's very good. Do you like it?" She nods. "Then I like it. Once the icing's set you can thread some of this ribbon through the hole."

Mx Sandy passes her the green ribbon and some scissors, and Aaliyah cuts a length, then runs it through the cookie, looking at Mx Sandy's one from last year as a reference as she ties the ribbon.

She looks around at everyone else. She's ahead. Is that okay? Finishing first has always been a bad thing in the past, but this isn't that, is it, so maybe, maybe it's not too bad? Cass squeezes her shoulder.

His star is more complicated than hers, with a little face in the centre, and he's struggling a little to tie the ribbon. Not being allowed to use his hands for much other than fighting for a couple of years didn't really lend itself to being able to do complicated motions easily, she supposes.

She taps him on the arm and when he looks at her, gestures, "You want help?"

"Mutts don't–" Aaliyah cuts him off with a firm swiping movement with both hands, creating a cross. No, no, not that, Master's not here, he's not a mutt. "Yes. Yes, thank you, Aaliyah."

She smiles and takes the ribbon, tying it carefully in a loop. Cass puts his arm around her.

"Happy Christmas."

Aaliyah leans against him contentedly. Yes, yes it is. It might not quite be Christmas Day yet, but for once, for the first time, this is a happy Christmas. She realises, quite suddenly, that although she was created for Master, and she was mostly okay there, she was never actually happy. Not like she is now. She tries not to feel guilty about it, because surely she should be happiest with her Master?

But she wasn't.

A tear drips down her cheek.

Where she's happiest is right here, with Cass and everyone else. Especially Cass. He– he should have more than being treated like a fighting dog, and now he does.

Master took her and Cass on a walk, once, when the truck broke down and they needed to get to and from the Christmas Day fights. Aaliyah had been holding Cass up as he limped, bleeding, and as she'd looked in the windows of the houses they'd passed, all yellow and bright and warm-looking and full of people laughing and smiling nicely, she'd wished, briefly, that she was safe and warm and loved like that. It had been wrong to think, of course, so so wrong, but...

But, now she is. Now she gets to have that. She wipes her cheek and smiles at Cass, tapping the morse code message Letitia taught them on the tabletop.

Happy Christmas.

[pigeonwhumps]

Stargazing

Finding Safety masterlist

Whump girl summer day 1: stargazing

Taglist: @littlespacecastle @whumpymirages @flowersarefreetherapy @painful-pooch

On a cold night after escaping Tyrone, Aaliyah and Cass watch the stars.

614 words

CW: homelessness, BBU, pet whump, past pet whump, starvation, freezing, exposure, brief mentions of possible death by hypothermia, mention of discrimination against Romantics

Aaliyah pulls the detective's jacket tighter around herself and Cass, curling into his side. It's cold tonight. At least it isn't snowing yet.

"Take the coat. It is not enough for us both, and you are colder than me."

Aaliyah shakes her head. It will be big enough to cover them both at least a little, she'll make sure of it. The ground is sparkling with ice and frost, and Cass will freeze if he's not covered up.

He might freeze anyway actually, both of them might, given how little they're wearing, but Cass isn't up to walking around to stave off the cold.

Aaliyah hunches against the cardboard that's their only shield from the hard ground, shivering. The cardboard is damp and cold, and the night has barely started. She wishes they had somewhere to go. Master's house was warmer, she wishes they could go back there.

But it was rarely warm for Cass. And they can't go back.

They can't ever go back.

Good pets shouldn't wish, anyway.

"You will freeze here, Aaliyah."

Aaliyah spreads her hands slightly. Where's she supposed to go? She's not leaving Cass, and it's the fact that she's a Romantic that stopped them from being allowed in the last safehouse. Cass could find somewhere if he was just willing to abandon her, but he isn't. She's grateful for that, but not if it kills him.

"I do not know. But you are still freezing. We will find somewhere to go tomorrow. We have to." Cass hunkers down on the damp cardboard, into the position he always uses at Master's to conserve heat. He curls an arm around Aaliyah, too, and somehow he feels warm. She's still shivering, that's good, but she can barely feel herself. Just Cass against her. The backstreets of Boston were near-empty today, the few people hurrying past wrapped up in jumpers and padded coats, paying no mind to the two pets huddled under a thinning trenchcoat that's nowhere near big enough for the both of them. Now everyone else is inside, away from the cold, and they have a few coins that people dropped for them but according to Cass it's not much. Not enough to buy anything warm.

Aaliyah smells something fried as the shop's doors open and shut, and her stomach clenches painfully. It's been days since she last ate.

"We will find a safehouse tomorrow," mumbles Cass. He must be doing as badly as her, if not worse, but he's trying to keep her spirits up and she's grateful for it. "Or we will find somewhere else safe to stay. We cannot stay out here much longer. But tonight, I will show you the stars."

Aaliyah's face is too frozen to smile but she strokes Cass' cheek affectionately. It's like a block of ice. He rests his hand on her arm, his other pointing towards the sky, towards a constellation that looks like a shopping trolley.

"That is the big dipper. Ursa major. The plough. It has a lot of names. Isabella calls it the shopping trolley. The one above it is called the little dipper. Little bear, and the big bear."

Aaliyah looks at Cass, and then back up at the sky. He's a bit like a bear. Grizzled, protective. Not a polar bear though or he'd be doing better in the cold.

God, it really is cold. She thought she knew what cold was, when she was dressed like this and exposed in the barely-heated arena, but she was wrong. Very wrong.

"We will be okay. We will find somewhere to stay," Cass murmurs. Aaliyah nods shallowly.

She only hopes they don't freeze to death before they do.

[pigeonwhumps]

🤔 Is there anything you still wish your pet did better?

❤️‍🩹 Is there anything you wish your owner did more of?

For anyone! - Vee

Thanks for the ask! From this ask game.

🤔 Is there anything you still wish your pet did better?

Tyrone: "I'd like my fighter to stop fighting me so much. 250 can be... a challenge sometimes. He won't even get in the ring without me threatening Aaliyah. I'd just like a bit of a break from his defiance.

"But then, I suppose I knew what he was like when I took him in. Besides. I still have some methods left I can use to break him. Handler training is very thorough.

"And Aaliyah? I wish she'd be a bit more enthusiastic sometimes. I mean, sure, maybe it tires her, but I ordered her with plenty of stamina, y'know? She shouldn't be tiring.

"I'd send her back for a refresher, but I'd miss her too much. 250 isn't exactly good for sex."

❤️‍🩹 Is there anything you wish your owner did more of?

Theo, about Anita: "I wish Mistress would punish me more. It's confusing without it and I can't learn. What if I'm doing something wrong and I don't know it and then she gets fed up with my mistakes and sends me back to be refurbished? If I had the chance to learn that would be less likely.

"I'm not trying to tell her what to do though. I would never do that."